


He Stayed

by MurielleLibrary



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Non-Canonical Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-22
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:08:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21516562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurielleLibrary/pseuds/MurielleLibrary
Summary: Completely AU that no one wanted. Ok, maybe some people wanted. I didn't, I'm so stupidly happy we didn't get this. But I would have been ok with it. And sometimes I just want angst and to feel sad, I guess.I also really like exploring Strickler and Jim's relationship? As a sort of failed father and son deal, it makes great parallels to his actual never-seen father.The Stricklake is 100% off camera, barely mentioned... but is the driving force of the whole thing, so eh.
Relationships: Barbara Lake/Walter Strickler | Stricklander, Jim Lake Jr. & Walter Strickler | Stricklander
Comments: 11
Kudos: 71





	He Stayed

Gunmar was dead. The Pale Lady and those loyal to her vanquished. The Eternal Night was giving way to natural day, as magic clouds dissipated. The sunlight was growing fast. Soon any troll caught without cover would be nothing more than unliving stone.

In the middle of what remained of the Arcadia High football field, the hero of the hour, Jim Lake Jr., stood. Well, leaned. Gunmar had broken one of his legs with a particularly violent throw. His support, both in the battle and now as a crutch was the lanky green changeling he used to call his history teacher.

Jim frantically searched for somewhere, anywhere that he and Stricklander could use for cover. There were piles of rubble and the twisted metal wreckage of the bleachers not far off, but they would only provide shade for a short time. True nightfall was hours away and there was no guarantee that someone would be able to come to their aid before the sun shifted and they would be exposed.

Stricklander grabbed Jim's arm and pulled him close. Stricklander’s wings unfurled and for an instant, Jim thought the changeling was going to attempt to fly them to safety. But instead, Stricklander pulled them both to their knees and cupped his wings around them. With dawning horror, Jim began to struggle in his former teacher's arms.

“NO! STRICKLER! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Jim screamed. “LET ME GO. ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU'LL DIE. _YOU'LL DIE!!!_ ”

Despite being physically stronger, the younger troll's fatigue from the battle kept him from breaking out of Stricklander’s grip. The space around Jim grew dimmer as Stricklander subtly shifted, hastily but carefully removing as many gaps as possible.

“Stop struggling. Stop.Please.There is no time. I promisedyourmotherIwouldn'tletanything… please, Jim.” Stricklander begged, barely pausing for breath as he hissed his plea. “Don't make it so you have to break my arms off to get out once the sun is down…”

Jim froze.

He turned and looked up into Stricklander's golden cat-slit eyes. Jim had still thought of them as slightly inhuman, despite having known the man's secret for nearly a year, despite having friends who were troll and changeling, despite being somewhere between human and troll himself now. Never had he thought they would look so… soft... and sad.

Jim looked away and pulled himself inward, trying to minimize his own size. Stricklander raised his arms around his head, closing off the last bits of sky. Only the dim light from their eyes illuminated the small space between them. 

Stricklander shuddered, his breath hitching as he felt the warm sun fully upon his back. As his living stone began to go numb, he smiled at the darkness. He would do well by her. Jim would be alright.

“Goodbye, Young Atlas. Jim. Tell your mother I will alwa-”

Stricklander's voice cut off and Jim was plunged into momentary darkness. After his transformation, Jim had been afforded far more acute night vision than as a human. Now as his eyes adjusted, he couldn't look away from the stone face hovering just above his own. The face of his teacher. His enemy. His mentor. His… father.

Jim howled in pain and sorrow, as he let himself realise something he had felt for a long time. Walter Strickler had been his favorite teacher. The kind, encouraging male voice he had lacked since he was a child. Then a year ago, those feelings, that strange mix of awe, respect, and yearning were thrown against the ones he quietly, secretly had felt for his birth father: disappointment, mistrust and hate. Strickler had earned them, he had tried to kill Jim and his friends, after all. But he had also tried to mend them. Jim had accepted those attempts, but it was never the same. Jim knew it. Strickler knew it. And they both knew the other knew it.

Hot tears spilled down Jim's cheeks as he sobbed. He remembered the pain and anger when he had realised Jim Lake was not ever coming back. This was different. It was so very different. But he wept just as hard, like a child. Walter Strickler _had_ come back. Had tried to be there for him. For his mother. And now he was gone. Not because he left. Because he stayed.


End file.
